Classic Ross Amico

“Disclosure Day” Disclosed on “Picture Perfect”

“Disclosure Day” Disclosed on “Picture Perfect”

by 

Ross Amico
in ,
9 responses

This week on “Picture Perfect” we disclose John Williams’ latest.

“Disclosure Day” will be at the heart of the program, which will feature music from all four of Steven Spielberg’s cinematic musings on intelligent life from other worlds. Has there been another director so fixated on extraterrestrials? Regardless of what one may think of the latest film – for a movie pushing unity, reactions have been unusually polarized – new music by John Williams is always cause for celebration.

We’ll hear 18 minutes from this, his 30th score for Spielberg (composed at the age of 93 & 94!), alongside musical selections from the director’s other otherworldly films, “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” “War of the Worlds,” and “E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial.”

“Disclosure Day” proves you can’t go home – unless, of course, you’re E.T. – but the music can still be out of this world on “Picture Perfect,” now in syndication on KWAX Classical Oregon!

——-

Clip and save the start times for all three of my recorded shows:

PICTURE PERFECT, the movie music show – Friday at 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT

SWEETNESS AND LIGHT, the light music program – Saturday at 11:00 AM EDT/8:00 AM PDT

THE LOST CHORD, unusual and neglected rep – Saturday at 7:00 PM EDT/4:00 PM PDT

Stream them, wherever you are, at the link!

https://kwax.uoregon.edu

——-

PHOTO: Williams and Spielberg with soprano Holly Sedillos

Comments

9 responses to ““Disclosure Day” Disclosed on “Picture Perfect””

  1. Anonymous

    Even though I was underwhelmed by the movie, it was mostly due to the weak writing. I still appreciate all the work Spielberg and Williams did, and hope they have another film or two in them to do. Maybe that western Spielberg keeps talking about. I would like to see that.

    Reply
    1. Classic Ross Amico

      Brennan Morsette I think the western’s supposed to be up next. If Williams wants to retire, though, let him retire. That said, he still composes every day anyway. But I think on this one he made a few recommendations for other composers, and Spielberg appealed to him, I can’t remember if it’s because it would be their 30th collaboration, or if it’s because of the subject matter, or if it’s because of Spielberg’s personal enthusiasm for the project.

      If I start listing the movie’s flaws, I will go on and on and on. (SPOILER-FREE RANT BEGINS HERE!) Yes, David Koepp’s screenplay is a mess, but a lot of it could very well be attributable to Spielberg’s original story. The film demands shockingly enormous suspensions of disbelief and ignores multiple, significant realities of life in the modern world. For it to work, as is, it would have had to have been presented as a period piece.

      Beyond all that, there are just major, major plot holes, unrealistic procedural elements, and some honest-to-goodness bad directing. I’m not talking about incompetence – it is Spielberg, after all – but just stupidly executed scenes that we’re supposed to swallow. And it’s not like I’m usually one to notice these things when I’m caught up in a movie, especially a Spielberg movie. But the lapses are the size of multiple motherships.

      Which reminds me, the CGI is terrible. The best effects are offered at a double-remove, in poor resolution on TV monitors. And there is not one moment of awe or wonder in the entire film. Okay, maybe that’s not the intention. Maybe it wants to be more thoughtful, more philosophical. Except it’s like it was written by a not very advanced ninth-grader. I actually felt embarrassed for the writer and director.

      You know I’m dying to go more into this, but I don’t want to spoil anything for anyone. Plenty of people seem to like it. I agree that Emily Blunt was superb, but other than that, for me, this one rates very low in the Spielberg canon.

      I’ve sporadically considered going to see it again, just to be sure I haven’t missed something, and to see if my expectations will be more in line this time with what the movie actually has to offer; but all it takes is thinking about it for 30 seconds, and I know I am not mistaken. It is a stupid, facile, half-baked movie that makes no sense.

      And there’s no payoff! Or the one they’ve got just doesn’t work. For me, anyway. And believe me, I am an empathetic person.

      I have a friend who saw it the same day, who I was able to talk it over with, and he basically agreed with all of my beefs, but he was more forgiving of it. He didn’t think it was great, but he enjoyed it. Good for him. I was actually angry for much of the first half, but that gradually softened into disappointment.

      I am happy to have the music, though. Long live John Williams!

      Reply
    2. Anonymous

      Classic Ross Amicopretty much my thoughts too. We’ll always have CE3K and ET though. I did like the car/train sequence though. That was one saving grace for me.

      Reply
      1. Classic Ross Amico

        Brennan Morsette The train scene was well-executed, of course, but it kind of annoyed the hell out of me, for reasons I can’t really go into here without spoiling it for folks who haven’t seen it. Let’s just say, the entire sequence just didn’t make any sense, except perhaps on a purely technical level, as a set-piece. The aggressor kept reminding me of Martin Landau in “North by Northwest” (maybe it was the leather gloves), but his behavior made absolutely zero sense throughout. It was a poetic touch to have pianos in the boxcar, though. The pianos, the reflections on glass, the images framed in mirrors, all that stuff was great. Spielberg has a keen eye for detail. Except when he doesn’t.

        Reply
    3. Anonymous

      Classic Ross Amicobtw, is it just me, or did it seem like the film was almost devoid of color? It might well have been filmed in black and white. All I remember is the color gray. I know, that’s all the modern films these says…but his films used to be so beautiful. I don’t get it.

      Reply
      1. Classic Ross Amico

        Brennan Morsette Spielberg’s films were more “beautiful” before he started working with Janusz Kamiński, an excellent choice for “Schindler’s List” and “Saving Private Ryan,” and an apt one for dystopian science fiction, but I find his work to be rather monochromatic and tiresome. Obviously, there is more than one color in “Disclosure Day” (we all remember Emily Blunt’s dress), but yeah, one’s recollection is primarily gray, or perhaps dark blue. Even during the day, it always seems to be overcast.

        Reply
    4. Anonymous

      Classic Ross AmicoEmily Blunt’s blue dress was the star of the show for me. Or was it white and gold? Hard to tell these days.

      Reply
      1. Classic Ross Amico

        Brennan Morsette You know what I’m talking about…Media: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1878524549733266&set=p.1878524549733266&type=3

        Reply
  2. Anonymous

    Thank You !!
    John Williams For Your Creation Of Yet Another Masterpiece Of Music 🎵

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Tag Cloud

Aaron Copland (93) Beethoven (95) Composer (114) Film Music (128) Film Score (143) Film Scores (255) Halloween (94) John Williams (191) KWAX (229) Leonard Bernstein (103) Marlboro Music Festival (125) Movie Music (143) Mozart (87) Opera (206) Philadelphia Orchestra (89) Picture Perfect (174) Princeton Symphony Orchestra (108) Radio (88) Ross Amico (244) Roy's Tie-Dye Sci-Fi Corner (290) The Classical Network (101) The Lost Chord (268) Vaughan Williams (103) WPRB (396) WWFM (881)

DON’T MISS A BEAT

Receive a weekly digest every Sunday at noon by signing up here

RECENT POSTS